The reoccurrence of the Black Brute, the Thug, and the modern day Coon stereotypical images on current television narrowly defines Black masculinity as a monolithic experience. Young Black boys, are often unable to see themselves as those who are portrayed on television. The images they see on screen are sometimes not realistic. Unfortunately, for some young Black boys, these stereotypical images may heavily influence their own behavior. Society often criminalizes and demonizes young Black men as angry, violent, and dangerous. They pose as a supposed threat to society and are thought to be even more problematic as they age. Currently, there is a need for alternative representations of Black youth and masculinity, which will allow for young Black men to define themselves and not allow society to define them. In this project I explore the Black male leads: Lucious Lyon in Empire and Luke Cage in Luke Cage. In addition, I explore the complexity of their characters and how their worldview of Black masculinity ultimately shapes their masculinity as Black men. While both were created as innovative representations of Black masculinity, they are mirrored images of historical stereotypes of Black men: the Thug as portrayed by Lucious Lyon in Empire and the Black Brute as portrayed by Luke Cage. This analysis focuses on the shift in current Black male representations in popular culture through a Black feminist lens. Themes addressed in this research project include: Blackness, Black love, and Black male gender performance and worldview.
","abstract_html":"<p>The reoccurrence of the Black Brute, the Thug, and the modern day Coon stereotypical images on current television narrowly defines Black masculinity as a monolithic experience. Young Black boys, are often unable to see themselves as those who are portrayed on television. The images they see on screen are sometimes not realistic. Unfortunately, for some young Black boys, these stereotypical images may heavily influence their own behavior. Society often criminalizes and demonizes young Black men as angry, violent, and dangerous. They pose as a supposed threat to society and are thought to be even more problematic as they age. Currently, there is a need for alternative representations of Black youth and masculinity, which will allow for young Black men to define themselves and not allow society to define them. In this project I explore the Black male leads: Lucious Lyon in <em>Empire </em>and Luke Cage in <em>Luke Cage</em>. In addition, I explore the complexity of their characters and how their worldview of Black masculinity ultimately shapes their masculinity as Black men. While both were created as innovative representations of Black masculinity, they are mirrored images of historical stereotypes of Black men: the Thug as portrayed by Lucious Lyon in <em>Empire</em> and the Black Brute as portrayed by Luke Cage. This analysis focuses on the shift in current Black male representations in popular culture through a Black feminist lens. Themes addressed in this research project include: Blackness, Black love, and Black male gender performance and worldview.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hemphill, Meya Joyell"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in American Studies (MAST)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Interdisciplinary Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Griselda Thomas","Dr. Nichole Guillory"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-07-28T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-07-28T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:17Z","subjects":["Blackness","Black masculinity","Television representation","Luke Cage","Empire","Black Brute","Thug","Coon","Stereotypes","Black history","American Popular Culture","American Studies","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Political History","Social History","United States History","Visual Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mast_etd/14","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Griselda Thomas","Dr. Nichole Guillory"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hemphill, Meya Joyell"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Interdisciplinary Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in American Studies (MAST)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Blackness","Black masculinity","Television representation","Luke Cage","Empire","Black Brute","Thug","Coon","Stereotypes","Black history","American Popular Culture","American Studies","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Political History","Social History","United States History","Visual Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mast_etd/14"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The reoccurrence of the Black Brute, the Thug, and the modern day Coon stereotypical images on current television narrowly defines Black masculinity as a monolithic experience. Young Black boys, are often unable to see themselves as those who are portrayed on television. The images they see on screen are sometimes not realistic. Unfortunately, for some young Black boys, these stereotypical images may heavily influence their own behavior. Society often criminalizes and demonizes young Black men as angry, violent, and dangerous. They pose as a supposed threat to society and are thought to be even more problematic as they age. Currently, there is a need for alternative representations of Black youth and masculinity, which will allow for young Black men to define themselves and not allow society to define them. In this project I explore the Black male leads: Lucious Lyon in Empire and Luke Cage in Luke Cage. In addition, I explore the complexity of their characters and how their worldview of Black masculinity ultimately shapes their masculinity as Black men. While both were created as innovative representations of Black masculinity, they are mirrored images of historical stereotypes of Black men: the Thug as portrayed by Lucious Lyon in Empire and the Black Brute as portrayed by Luke Cage. This analysis focuses on the shift in current Black male representations in popular culture through a Black feminist lens. Themes addressed in this research project include: Blackness, Black love, and Black male gender performance and worldview.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Anti-Black Hero: Black Masculinity Media Representation as Seen in Netflix Series Luke Cage and Fox Series Empire"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Griselda Thomas","Dr. Nichole Guillory"],"dc:creator":["Hemphill, Meya Joyell"],"dc:date.available":["2017-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The reoccurrence of the Black Brute, the Thug, and the modern day Coon stereotypical images on current television narrowly defines Black masculinity as a monolithic experience. Young Black boys, are often unable to see themselves as those who are portrayed on television. The images they see on screen are sometimes not realistic. Unfortunately, for some young Black boys, these stereotypical images may heavily influence their own behavior. Society often criminalizes and demonizes young Black men as angry, violent, and dangerous. They pose as a supposed threat to society and are thought to be even more problematic as they age. Currently, there is a need for alternative representations of Black youth and masculinity, which will allow for young Black men to define themselves and not allow society to define them. In this project I explore the Black male leads: Lucious Lyon in Empire and Luke Cage in Luke Cage. In addition, I explore the complexity of their characters and how their worldview of Black masculinity ultimately shapes their masculinity as Black men. While both were created as innovative representations of Black masculinity, they are mirrored images of historical stereotypes of Black men: the Thug as portrayed by Lucious Lyon in Empire and the Black Brute as portrayed by Luke Cage. This analysis focuses on the shift in current Black male representations in popular culture through a Black feminist lens. Themes addressed in this research project include: Blackness, Black love, and Black male gender performance and worldview.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mast_etd/14"],"dc:subject":["Blackness","Black masculinity","Television representation","Luke Cage","Empire","Black Brute","Thug","Coon","Stereotypes","Black history","American Popular Culture","American Studies","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Political History","Social History","United States History","Visual Studies"],"dc:title":["The Anti-Black Hero: Black Masculinity Media Representation as Seen in Netflix Series Luke Cage and Fox Series Empire"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Interdisciplinary Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in American Studies (MAST)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:17Z"}